A huge part of public speaking is knowing about your audience, and knowing how you are going to approach that audience. This week’s public speaking article is all about your relationship with your audience. How do you capture their interest, and how do you know what their interest is? How do you turn a mundane subject into something people will want to listen to? Well, buckle up, and let’s take a look at some of the steps!
Research and Understand Your Audience
When you are in front of a business audience, it is important to know their background. Are they colleagues, middle managers or trainees? Finding out about their business experience and their companies will be very important. Armed with this information, you can make a passing reference to their company’s history or profile, which they can relate to. You can tie your information to the subject that matters to them.
Go Beyond Your Words…
You are communicating a message or information, or entertaining. Or it may be a combination of all three. The words you are using are merely a vehicle for conveying your ideas. They are not sufficient on their own. You must feel what you are saying.
Don’t JUST Read Your Speech
There are several reasons why this could be disastrous. If you just stand in front of the audience and read, you will be in danger of boring your listeners. Remember that really dull college professor who droned on for hours on end? That would be you. The more you read, the more you will chance mumbling and failing to make eye contact. Improvise, and feel your way towards a great speech.
Practice, Practice, Practice
You need to get really familiar with the contents of your speech. If you lack confidence, the best way to do this is to try and memorize the main points, and you can use a list of notes for this. You have to go over and over it again, timing yourself so that you do not go over the time allocated. If you prefer, you can also use cards with the main points on them, just in case you forget. A good idea is to number the cards, just in case you drop them! Give it a try—it’ll work like a charm.
Become Personal
No, don’t take this the wrong way. Nobody wants to hear the ins and outs of your divorce. But people still love stories. An anecdote or two can work wonders. Tell them about your personal involvement in a project and what went right or wrong. Jokes are great, too, although these should be kept to a minimum. All these things are important for bonding with your audience.
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